Before we go any further
by saoirseronans
Summary: 'Okay, so let me get this straight...you kissed a half-conscious but attractive boy who'd been hit by a car after he had implied that he wanted you to' 'Yes! Why was that so hard for you all to understand' Ian x Wanda modern AU (R&R)
1. Chapter 1

_Hi again everyone! So, recently I had a pang of nostalgia for The Host and rediscovered this fic that I had gotten part way through last spring. After re-reading it, I found that it was (gasp) half way decent and began to debate whether or not to put to continue with it. I have decided to put up a first chapter and see whether you all like it and then see how it goes from there! Enjoy this first chapter and let me know if: a) you liked it b) you didn't or c) you want a next chapter ;) _

_lots of love, Isabelle xx_

* * *

Before we go any further, I'd like to get just one thing straight. Normally, I am not the kind of girl who walks out of the school gates at three thirty and almost instantly kisses a boy. Actually, I'm not the kind of girl who kisses boys at all. I tend to leave that kind of thing to my sister, Melanie. Mel has always been a hit with the male specimen; she's tough, sassy and stunningly beautiful. Boys have been falling over themselves to get to her since they realised girls were pretty cool and Melanie's been soaking it in for just as long.

No, Wanda Stryder is most definitely not the kind of girl who usually kisses boys. Which I suppose just makes what happened even more unusual.

The dull trill of the school bell jogged me out of the trance I'd been stuck in for the past twenty minutes. Normally I really enjoy Biology, but today I had other things on my mind. While Dr. Malik droned on and on about endoplasmic reticulum, my mind was drifting out the window and into this weekend.

Uncle Jeb had been invited on a special course for working with troubled young people (he had a part time job at the local juvenile facility centre), which meant that my sister Mel and I were in charge of our younger brother, Jamie for two days. During lunch, Melanie had texted me saying she was staying round Jarred's, her boyfriend, on Saturday night and would I be okay to look after Jamie over night? I'd texted back in the affirmative and as a result had spent the whole of fourth and fifth period daydreaming about the fun evening I could put together for Jamie. So far, my plan involved homemade pizza (extra cheese for him and extra pineapple for me), a bucket load of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream and the 'Iron Man' DVDs. Everything we needed to have the perfect evening in together.

'I want that mock paper in next Wednesday,' Dr. Malik yells above the excited buzz of twenty sixteen year olds, desperate to escape school for forty-eight hours. 'No excuses or you're helping supervise the Year Nine dissection lesson!'

And just by that, he had guaranteed having all the papers on his desk by Wednesday morning.

Blinking away my thoughts, I brush my hair behind my ears and shove my paper into my notebook. I'd have to get it done tonight, I think absently, while Mel could still supervise Jamie. Picking up my books and shoving them into my bag, I turn to follow the rest of my class out the door.

In the packed corridor of the science block, I crane my neck over the thronging bodies to see if I can see Molly, my best friend, among them. Being just under five foot four, I struggled, seeing as most of the kids surging out of their classrooms were taller than I was.

'Wanda!' My issue was resolved by a hand grabbing onto my wrist from behind. I jump, then relax as Molly comes up to my side, letting go of my wrist.

'God, you scared me,' I tell her, as we continue pushing our way out of the building together.

'You get scared too easily, you might want to work on that.'

I roll my eyes. Molly laughs, showing her white, pearly teeth and grabs my arm.

'So, are you coming around tomorrow?' she asks, as we break out of the stuffy building and step into the dappled sun of the late September afternoon. School's just been let out and the site is heaving with excitable children, all fighting each other to get out of the school and enjoy the early autumn sun we're having. Over on the field, two Year Eight boys are having a fight with their water bottles.

'I can't,' I confess, dodging a little kid with a basketball. 'Jeb's away so Mel and I are on babysitting duty.'

'Surely Jamie doesn't need both of you to make sure he doesn't stab himself with a pair of safety scissors,' Molly objects.

'Well, no,' I admit. 'But Mel's going out on Saturday.'

'With Jarred?' Molly's bright green eyes are suddenly sparkling with the idea of scandal and excitement.

'Yes, with Jarred,' I sigh. 'She's staying at his after they go to some party.'

'Damn.' Molly clucks her tongue at a couple of younger kids who dart across the path in front of us. 'I was planning a Harry Potter marathon. I had popcorn and everything.'

'Next Saturday?' I bargain with her.

'Done.' Molly winks at me as she swings her shoulder bag further up her arm and reaches out to hug me. I breathe in her sharp, Chanel scent as her hair tickles my nose and squeeze her tight. 'I'll see you on Monday, but text me tomorrow,' she instructs, pulling back from the hug and turning away with a little wave.

'Don't start watching them without me!' I call after her retreating figure.

'Wouldn't dream of it!' she yells back over her shoulder.

I smile, although she can't see me and spin around to go out the back gate of the school. Not many kids go out that one, most exit through the main gate that leads to the bus stops. I would too, only since we moved to Jeb's house it seemed pointless to get the bus for a twenty minute journey from his house to school. So, Jamie and I gave up our bus passes and walk to school now. It's a fairly nice walk, quiet and not by too many main roads. I don't mind walking, really. Most of the time Jamie's with me, but today he was on a school trip to the local museum and his class was allowed to go home early when they got back to school, so I'm on my own. But I don't mind that either. Sometimes it's nice to be alone.

Fiddling in my pocket for my IPod, I stop to check my phone for texts. There is only one new one, and it's from Molly. That girl was practically glued to her phone. You'd have to use a crowbar to prise them apart, I think to myself with another smile, picturing it. I slot my phone back into my pocket and hop up the single step to the gate. Halfway through it though, I freeze.

Across the road from me, there is a boy. He is probably only a little older than me, maybe Year Thirteen, so seventeen or eighteen. He's tall, and skinny too, with dark blonde hair that he keeps pushing back off his temples. He's not dressed in uniform, I notice, not ours or any other school I know of. When he turns his head to the left, I see blue ear buds in his ears, dangling down to his jeans pocket where a music player bulges over the top.

I wonder what he's listening to, I muse, watching from under the arch of the gate as he stretches his body forward, trying to peer around the corner of the road to see if anything is coming. Must be something good.

It must be something _very_ good, because he doesn't even bother to look the other way on the road before stepping out. I suppose it doesn't help that the man in the car coming the other way down the road is peering out the window looking for his turning and so is not concentrating on where he is going either.

Oh no.

My IPod clatters out of my hand to the floor. Everything seems to move in slow motion. The boy is almost in the middle of the road and the car is still cruising along at a fair pace towards him. Going with the laws of physics, it's inevitable what will happen.

'Stop!' I scream. But it's already too late.


	2. Chapter 2

_Helloooooooooo! Okay so this is very very overdue and I am sorry about that. It got to Christmas and everything was super busy and then I got a new laptop (yay!) that couldn't open word documents (boo) so I couldn't upload anything or write. But things are sorted now so, without further ado, here is chapter 2! And because I have been so rubbish lately, I am putting up chapter 3 at the same time. Perhaps in return you could leave me a review again? All of the others have been so lovely, I really appreciate them. Thank you for your interest in this story!_

_love Isabelle xx_

* * *

The driver's attention snaps back to the road just in time to brake furiously, but it's still not enough. The boy's head jerks up and for a fraction of a second, our eyes meet across the road. His are as blue as the crisp new acrylic paints in the art room and suddenly I can't breathe. Then his body collides with the cars bonnet in a shriek of tyres and he falls to the ground with a sickening thud and a crack and the air comes flooding out of my lungs with a gasp.  
My legs start moving without any direct instruction from my brain and soon I am running into the middle of the road myself.  
'Oh my God,' the driver, who has stumbled out of his car, slightly dazed, mutters. 'Oh my God, oh my God…' I drop down to the boy's side and hesitate. My mind furiously drags itself back to the first aid lessons my class had last year. Fumbling with his collar, I manage to press my finger against his neck. Beating regularly under my fingertips, there is a pulse.  
'He's alive!' I exclaim with relief to the driver, who is almost crying, his face pale and his hands shaking.  
'Oh, thank God!' he exhales, then he drops down beside me. 'Thank God, thank God…'  
He's really not much help, I decide, another thought hitting me. Oh Hell, now I have to do something instead.  
'I've phoned for an ambulance!'  
Or maybe not.  
Looking up, I see a plump woman of about forty tottering down the pavement as fast as her kitten heels will allow her.  
'I saw everything from my window,' she announces, joining us on the road. 'Is he breathing?'  
'Yes,' I reply, moving over so she can check. 'And I can't see if he's hurt anywhere either.'  
'I didn't even see,' the driver mumbles, still horrified. 'God, he just came out of nowhere.'  
'Maybe he thought it was one way,' I suggest, as the woman carefully pulls the boy into a better position so she can examine him. One of his hands flops off his chest and onto the concrete. I reach out and pick it up again, gently laying it back across his shirt. Under my fingers, I can feel the beat of his heart. Suddenly, his fingers flicker under my own and he clasps my hand in his with a gasp. His eyes fly open wildly and he tries to sit up.  
'Where am I?' he starts burbling. 'What happened? Oh God, am I late? Kyle's going to murder me and then suck the marrow out of my bones!'  
I shuffle back a little.  
'Now, now,' the woman says firmly, trying to push his body back down. 'No one will be doing any sucking of marrow any time soon. You were hit by a car, sweetheart.'  
'A car?' the boy asks hazily, then his eyes brighten with realisation. 'A car! I was hit by a car! Oh God! Fuck, I'm dying! This is it then. Goodbye cruel world. I guess I had a good run. Fuck, I never even finished high school, oh fuck…'  
'You know, I really don't think you're going to die,' I point out softly to him, and almost instantly regret it.  
The boy's blue eyes latch onto me and flit up and down my face cautiously. My heart flutters and I tug at the hemline of my skirt anxiously. His gaze is deep and in those few seconds it feels as if he is looking deeper inside me than even I had ever looked.  
'And,' he declares, 'I'm going to die without even kissing a girl.'  
My heart leaps into my mouth and I keep my head down, blushing furiously. Even without looking at him I can feel his gaze on the back of my neck, burning into my skin.  
From down the road, I hear the shriek of sirens that can only announce the arrival of the ambulance and breathe out in relief. The ambulance pulls up beside us with a squeal of brakes and three paramedics jump out with a stretcher. The driver and the woman pull back, but when I try to the boy grabs my hand.  
'Don't,' he says and because he looks terrified, I do what he says.  
By this time, some of my teachers have hurried out of the gates to find the cause of the commotion and some members of the public have joined them, peering off the pavement anxiously at the scene of carnage before them. I hold the boys hand tightly as the paramedics give him some tranquilizers so they can examine him and then lift him onto a stretcher.  
'You'll be okay,' I assure him as he starts drifting off into oblivion. 'You're going to be fine.'  
'Mhm,' he mumbles, his fingers slackening around mine. 'Never even kissed a girl…' He turns his head and looks at me again, his eyes finding my face and not looking away.  
I swallow hard and then sigh, quickly bending down to press my lips against his. It's a shock, for me who has never kissed anyone before either. His lips seem to fizz slightly, which might be the tranquilizers. They feel soft against mine and taste faintly of honey, which I suppose is no bad thing. It is hardly two seconds before I leap back from him again, embarrassed and flushed.  
Already his eyes have closed and the paramedics lift the stretcher into the ambulance without even raising an eyebrow. I guess they see some pretty weird sights daily so a teenager kissing a stranger outside her school doesn't exactly rate very high.  
I stand, staring after the ambulance as it pulls away from the curb and off into the street, sirens blaring and lights flashing. My lips are still tingling and I bring my hand up to touch them lightly. The cool against the blazing heat of my face shocks me back into the real world and I join the mass of bystanders who have started drifting back into their routine.  
It was a nice kiss, I think to myself as I pick up my bag again from the pavement and make sure I look both ways twice before crossing the road. For a first kiss with a strange boy half unconscious who'd just been hit by a car outside my school. A very nice kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

_(See, I promised didn't I?)_

* * *

Uncle Jeb lives in a nice, secluded suburb around thirty minutes away from the city centre. The house itself is your average four bed, two bathroom job but Jeb has managed to make it his own with ethnic rugs and blankets scattered around and exotic herbs flowering in pots on the kitchen windowsills. The garden has become a bit overgrown, as Jeb isn't much cop at gardening and us kids have better things to do, but we have come to sort of like it that way. There was something endearing about having to step over grass waist high to get to the patio to read a magazine in the sun.  
The house itself had been fairly quiet with only Uncle Jeb living there until Melanie, Jamie and I's parents died five years ago, leaving Uncle Jeb our only legal guardian. Well, technically, he was only their legal guardian, seeing as I had been adopted by the Stryders when I was three. I can't remember my birth parents properly and I only know that they died in a cholera outbreak in India when I was still a baby and we were living there and after their deaths I was taken back to England and put up for adoption. Jamie had been born two years after I had gone to live with the Stryders and he had been brought up believing he had two sisters: me and Melanie. The Stryders were the only family I had ever known and I couldn't have wished for a better one.

* * *

Our parents died in a car crash when I was eleven. We'd been waiting at home for them to get back from the supermarket on a Saturday morning but they never did. It was a head on collision, the police had told us, once we were all too numb to feel anything more. They were never in any pain. That night, all three of us had slept in the same bed.  
Even though I had been legally adopted by the Stryders, there was some confusion over whether I was to go live with Uncle Jeb or not. For one terrifying week, it looked as if I would be put back into a children's home without my brother and sister. Luckily, Melanie found her voice before that happened.  
'Look,' she'd said, slamming her hands down on the social worker's desk and sweeping a bunch of paperwork off it in the process. 'I don't really care what your notes say or what the fucking law says either: Wanda is my sister and if you dare try and separate my family more than it already has been, you will have to drag me from this building kicking and screaming 'murder' at the top of my lungs.'  
She had only been fourteen but I have no doubt that even if Uncle Jeb hadn't stepped in we'd have been allowed to stay together. Mel could be pretty scary when it came to her family.

* * *

'Home!' I call into the open house and I push the door open. The smell of fresh baking bread hits me with a wave of heat and dough.  
'In the kitchen!' Jeb yells back.  
I drop my bag in the hall and go in to meet him. Jeb is dressed in an old black t-shirt and baggy cargo pants and he has white flour in his beard. Scattered over the counter are various cake tins and mixing bowls and open sugar packets, with plates full of biscuits and muffins dotted between them. Jeb is just pulling a loaf of bread out of the oven.  
'Done some baking?' I ask dryly, moving to open the patio doors to let in some air (and the faint burning smell, but we won't go into that).  
'I thought I might do some with the kids this weekend,' Jeb offers as an excuse. 'Thought I should probably get in some practice before we do it for real.'  
'Probably,' I agree, picking up a chocolate cookie and putting it back down again. 'Where's Jamie?'  
'Gone to play down the street,' Jeb says, brushing the flour off his beard and coughing in the cloud that came off it in the process.  
'Is that safe?' I ask, a little worried.  
'If he keeps to the pavements and doesn't rush into the road like an idiot then yes.' Jeb grins at me and ruffles my hair over the table. 'You worry about him too much, girl. He's a big boy now.'  
'I suppose,' I mutter. After a lifetime of coddling and cuddling him, it is hard to realise that Jamie is almost fourteen now and perfectly able to look after himself.  
'So, how was today?' Jeb asks me, turning the tap on to start washing up.  
'It was kind of weird,' I shrug, settling myself at the table. 'I kissed a boy.'  
Jeb gives a little squawk and drops a glass bowl on the floor. As it shatters, I wince. Maybe I should have broken the news a little slower. 'You did what?'  
'What's that noise?' The front door bangs and Melanie swoops into the kitchen, Jarred at her heels. 'Oh, Jeb, not again!' She grabs the brush from behind the fridge and sweeps the glass fragments into a corner. 'And who's done what?'  
'Wanda kissed a boy,' Jeb says blankly, still in shock.  
'Excellent!' Mel drops the brush with a clatter and claps her hands before running around to kiss my forehead.  
'It wasn't like that!' I protest. 'He was half-unconscious.'  
'You kissed a half-conscious boy?' Jarred asks, concerned.  
'Wanda, surely if he was that hot you could have waited for him to be able to kiss you back,' Mel comments, picking up the same cookie I had three minutes ago and biting into it.  
'She shouldn't have been kissing anyone, conscious or not!' Jeb was dabbing at his brow with the tea towel; he seemed to be sweating more than normal.  
'But if he was hot…' Mel sidled up beside me. 'Was he hot?'  
'No! I mean, I guess so…He'd just been hit by a car!' I object.  
'So, you kissed a half-conscious but an attractive boy who'd been hit by a car?' Jarred was helplessly trying to get things straight.  
'Honey, you know the whole kiss-it-better thing doesn't actually work,' Jeb says gently.  
'I know, I know!' I groan. 'It wasn't like that, he'd asked me to!'  
'I thought he was half-conscious?' Melanie asked, scratching her head.  
'He implied that he wanted me to,' I amend.  
'Okay, so let me get this straight.' Jarred took a deep breath. 'You kissed a half-conscious but attractive boy who'd been hit by a car after he had implied that he wanted you to?'  
'Yes!' I threw my hands up in the air. 'Why was that so hard for you all to understand?'  
'Well, so long as he was hot,' Mel shrugged, finishing off her cookie.  
'Who's hot?'  
We all jumped at the sound of another voice. Spinning around, we found Jamie standing in the doorway, a football under his arm, looking just as confused as Jarred.  
'Uh, we'll let Wanda explain,' Mel told him with a wink at me. 'I'll talk to you in a bit, okay? Jarred, let's go get the bags.' Giving Jamie a kiss on the forehead, she tugged Jarred from the kitchen and back out to his car.  
'I, um, better go, uh, pack,' Jeb mumbles, almost tripping over a pan on the floor in his haste to get out the door.  
Jamie watches him go then turns back to me, his eyebrow raised in query. I grin at him and gesture for him to come over to sit with me.  
'You,' I tell him, offering him the plate of biscuits, 'will not believe the day I have had…'


End file.
